“I can’t believe you’re dragging me to the ballet,” Mari grumbled as she and Michael waited in the lobby for the theater doors to open. “I told you, it’s Emily’s sister and Emily can’t be here, but she wanted there to be some familiar faces in the audience, so she gave me her tickets.” “Yeah, but why do I have to be here?” He grinned at her. “So I can tell everyone at the precinct that I went because you wanted to go.” “Yeah, like anyone would believe that.” He saw Amelia and Athena on the other side of the lobby and felt bad for hoping they didn’t approach. He didn’t think he could begin to explain his relationship with them to Mari. It wasn’t exactly common for a man to maintain a friendship with people who ran a shop his late wife used to patronize years earlier or for him to socialize with his downstairs neighbor’s former employers. No matter how he described it, it was bound to set off a whole new round of “nice to old ladies” jokes. His desk would soon be covered in fake merit badges for helping old ladies cross the street and carrying their groceries.
